Hop-picker.



. PATENTED JUNE 18 1907. B. G. HORST 6: J. EHRHORN.

HOP PIOKBR; APPLIOATIDN FILED. OUT. 17.19 06.

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PATENTEDJUNE 18, 1907. E. G. HORST 6: J. EHRHORN.

HOP PIGKER. APPLIOATIOK FILED 0OT.17. 1906.

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I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EMIL CLEMENS HORST, OF SAN FRANCISCO, AND JOHN EHRHORN, OF PER- KIN S,CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNORS TO E. CLEMENS HORST CO., OF SAN FRAN- CISCO,CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

HOP-PICKER. I

To aid whom it may concern:

3 Be it known that we, EMIL CLEMENS I-Ionsr, of the city and county ofSan Francisco, State of California, a citizen of the United States, andJoI-IN EHRHORN, of Perkins, county of Sacramento, State of Cali- Ifornia, a citizen of Germany, have invented new and useful Improvementsin Hop-Pickers, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to a machine by which hops may be picked orseparated from the vines upon which they grow.

It consists of an endless traveling screen upon which the hop vines arethrown, and through which the hops upon their stems are caused todepend; means for severing the .hops from the stems, and in details ofconstruction which will be more fully explained by reference to theaccompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is an end view and partialsection of my apparatus. Fig. 2 is a side elevation in section. Fig. 3is an enlarged edge view and partial section of a modified form of leafseparating device. Fig. 4 is a partial front Fig. 5 is a detail themeans'for reciprocating the knife.

A is a supporting frame of any suitable construction, and B is a hopperor receiver at the upper end.

Extending diagonally downward from this receiver are side boards 2between which, and forming a bottom thereto, is an endless travelingscreen 3 passing over a pulley 4 contiguous to the hopper B, and anotherpulley 5 at the lower end, and a return pulley 6 located with relationto the first named pulleys so'that the screen may travel in a triangularpath as shown, the upper portion forming practically the bottom betweenthe side boards 2.

The screen may be caused to travel by any suitable connection with oneof the pulley or drum shafts which may form the driving Patented. June18, 1907.

unison with the movement of these sides so movement which, when vineshaving hops and leaves upon them are delivered upon the screen from thehopper B, will give a sufiicient shaking motion to cause the hops tofall through the screen, hanging belowthe screen from their stems, whilethe vines lie on the top of the screen, and the mass is thus graduallycarried downward until it arrives at reciprocating cutting knives 7which are movable transversely to the path of travel of the screen andserve to sever the stems allowing the hops to fall upon an inclinedconveyer 8 which separates the leaves and hops. The vines are carrieddownward by the screen, and at the lower end are delivered upon a secondcarrier 9.

In order to keep the vines and hcps pressed 7 upon the screen, thusinsuring the hops fall- I ing through the meshes of s the screen anddepending so as to be severed by the knives. The knives may bereciprocated in any suitable or desired manner, as by a crank diskmounted upon a driven shaft at the side of the frame and engaging withthe reciprocating portion of the cutter, as shown at 12.

In order to produce the side movement of the upper end of the screen 3,and the inclosing side boards 2, the drum 4 over which the screen passeshas made in it a cam groove 13, and a fixed pin entering this groovecauses the drum to reciprocate endwise carrying with it the screen.

A second groove is made straight around the drum as shown at 14, and apin 15 fixed to one of the side boards 2, engages this groove, so thatwhen the drum is reciprocated.

the vines by the knife, fall upon the endless itself will roll down thebelt and be collected i in the bin 17, clean and free from rubbish. Ofcourse the speed and the inclination of the belt might vary slightlyaccording to the condition of the hops. I

In Fig. 3 I have shown a modification of the means for segregating thehops and leaves which fall through the screen. In this case I employ aseries of inclined pins 8 projecting in the line of travel of the hopsand leaves, and these pins are supported so as to form a generalincline, so that the hops and leaves which dropupon the upper end ofthis device will roll and slide down over the pins which are placed soclosely together that the hops will not fall through and will bedelivered from the lower end of thedevice into the receiver 17 but theleaves may fall through between the pins and be received upon aninclined chute 18 and discharge into a second receiver 19 with which theend of the chute connects. i

In order to agitate the leaves and cause them to take various positions,particularly to stand on edge so as to insure their falling between thepins 8, I have shown agitating arms 20 radiating from shafts as at 21,shown in Figs.-3 and 4t, and these shafts are revolved by any suitableconnection with other movable part of the apparatus, so that...in theirrevolution the pins 20 will continually rise upward between the arms 8,and contacting with the leaves and hops will lift and loosen them up asthey move down over the separating device, and while the hops cannotfall between the wires, the leaves, being compelled to take variouspositions, will at some point during their movement downward take anedge position which will allow them to drop through when separate fromthe hops.

Having thus described our invention, what We claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is 1. In a hop picking and separating apparatus, aninclined traveling screen and sides to which the screenforms a bottom,means for delivering hop vines upon the screen, means for agitating thescreen and sides transversely to cause the hops to depend there-through,and a cutter located beneath the screen whereby the hops are separated,said cutter having its cutting edge presented opposite to the travel ofthe screen and against which edge the screen carries the vines, andmeans for reciprocating the cutter transversely of the screen.

endless traveling inclined screen, means for 1 transversely shaking thescreen to cause the hops to depend there-through, a cutter by which thehops are severed from the vines upon the top of the screen, and anupwardly traveling inclined endless carrier upon which the severedleaves and hops will fall, and means for operating said carrier wherebythe leaves are carried upward and discharged, and the hops movedownward.

3. In an apparatusifor picking and separating hops, an endless travelinginclined screen, means for delivering vines with hops thereon upon thetop of the screen, side boards hinged at the lower end, and of which thescreen forms a bottom, a drum over which the upper end of the screenpasses having a cam groove, and a fixed pin entering said groove wherebythe drum and the upper end of the screen are oscillated transversely.

4. In an apparatus for picking and separating hops, an endless travelinginclined screen, means for delivering vines and hops u on the upper endof the screen, side boards 0 which the screen forms a bottom, saidboards being hinged at the lower end, a drum over which the upper end ofthe screen passes, said drum having a cam groove, -a fixed pin engagingsaid groove whereby the drum and upper end of the screen are oscillatedtransversely, said drum having a circular groove formed in it, andconnections between the side boards and said groove whereby the saidboards are caused to oscillate in unison with the movements of the drumand screen.

5. In an apparatus for picking and separating hops from the vines, anendless traveling inclined screen having hinged side boards, means forreciprocating the upper end of the screen and the side boards in unison,a converging directing plate located above the screen, a reciprocatingknife or cutter below the screen whereby the hops are separated from thevines, and independent receiver for the hops and leaves.

6. In hop picking apparatus, a movable perforated support for the hopsand vines, and an inclined upwardly traveling endless conveyer arrangedbeneath said support to receive the hops and leaves falling through theopenings in the support.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

EMIL CLEMENS HORST. JOHN EHRHORN.

Witnesses:

E. P. CHRISTIE, ERNsT LANGE.

